Welcome to Gaia! ::

Damrius smiled, and latched the Vengeful back onto his belt.

Okay then. Well, what do you say we grab that bite to eat, eh? You choose the place, I'm not very... Familiar around here.

Amongst the usual sounds of water sloshing and wood creaking came the rhythmic footsteps of footsteps, a set of leather boots brought a set of aged legs up behind Ryugi, and a very raspy raggedy voiced yelled out from behind him, alerting half the dock of the old mans presence.

Y'dont have t'yell sunny!

At closer inspection the man wore a large wide brimmed hat, a long black coat which drug loosely against the floor, and a long flowing white locks tied into a pony tail and left to hang down his back. He was bent so far over, the man almost looked like he was going to fall, and likely would have if not for his cane.

He looked up at the tall young dragon with a wrinkled face, and a patched over eye. And out came yet another scream.

What'cannae do fer ya?

He paused for a moment, like an ancient computer trying to process the information it had just received one syllable at a time. And in the interrum Ryugi was presented with a famed stereotypical blank old person stare. This was no deep stare, piercing his soul or anything of the sort. This was the sort of blank stare you get from your computer when your not exactly sure if its about to crash.

And of course, true to his age he responded just in time.



WHAT?!

He shouted forth, scaring away a few birds and probably a fish or three.



Eh?

He paused, scratching the side of his head with his free hand, slightly lifting his hat to get beneath it to the his itchy scalp. For once his voice was beneath a shout, though still louder than necessary for normal conversation.

I dunt know nothin' 'bout any of that...

He said, turning to take a few steps back toward the small guardhouse he had exited from, the sound of paper tearing could be heard as he waddled back with a white sheet of paper.

...we got this'ere thing, tho'.

And he presented Ryugi with the sheet of paper. A sheet of paper which contained a posting identical to the message board posting he was here about. Down to the typos and shoddy print, of course the paper was aged sun bleached and sea salt stained.

Y'sure?

The old man said, with a cocked eyebrow scanning over Ryugi.

Yer kinda scrawny...

He lifted his cane, smacking the side of Ryugi's leg. He was old, so understandably it wasnt a strong smack or even a painful smack.

Ya'need strong legs!

He reached up to smack his arms.

...good arms!

The aged old Dockmaster shook his head left to right, letting the cane finally land back on the ground where it caught his weight again.

In m'day we had real men! With barrel chests, thick legs, and burly arms! We had hair on our chest and flocks of women at our sides. Hehahaaa!

He let out in some almost stereotypical elderly cackling, showing all his missing teeth. All 12 of them, and some serious gingavitis. But that was neither here nor there, and death soon came for the laughter. The sound was smothered in a storm of coughs, immediately followed by a few wet "ahem's", and a glob of spit being cast at the wooden decks.

A'right kid, I'll give ya the job. But it aint till t'night. You will'n to help an old man unload some boxes?

This way then kid...

And he turned and made his way to the docks. Slowly. Very slowly. These legs had no spryness left in them at all. But the destination was clear a few dozen feet down the dock lie a large shipping boat which had pulled into port. Boxes were scattered hitter and tither across the area. The old man made his way to the boxes with frustration on his face, as the crew members simply grabbed a few boxes from their homes in the ship and tossed them onto the dock itself rather unsanctimonously.

Hey you b'careful with those!

The old man shouted, picked up the pace of his walk/scoot as he swung his cane in the air and took a few steps toward the crew. But was almost completely and totally ignored, he rushed one of the crew like he was about to strike them but missed entirely falling flat on his face. There was a rather hard smacking sound and a pop from his hip and a rib as he fell.

Ragrah!

Though dignity was huge on his list, and he tried to lift himself up his rickety old arms failing horribly at the task, as he muttered several curses under his breath, barely audible.

No one, not the dock workers or the ships crew even ventured to give as much as a glance to the ailing man, who was busy failing miserably at his attempts to stand up. Infact it seemed the dock workers were just lazily meandering about ignoring the boxes.

The man was silent as he was helped, he didnt moan or show any signs of aching, until he was on his feet, and which point one might notice exactly how much extra weight was put on that cane. Almost rudely he pulled his arm away from Ryugi as the dragon questioned his status, immediately responding back.

Real men dont need no coddling!

He tried his best to stand up straight, but years and years of geriatrics and arthritis made it nearly impossible. Still, he had his prize, if not anything else.

Now, show me what'cher made of get some boxes in that there store room!

And he gestured toward the rather big warehouse nearby.

And kid...

The old man called out before Ryugi got out of sight. He'd wait for that small moment of pause when Ryugi looked back to see why he was called.

...never grow old...

He turned, and made his way back to his shack. Ryugi would find that most of the people on the dock were lazy as can be. His co-workers, while always "occupied" he seemed to be doing all the lifting. Infact when he would meet one in eye contact or the like he was given an odd look. Like he was stupid, or crazy or something.

The boxes would last him for hours, even with his strength. Before he knew it, it was dusk and the ship was pulling away. And soon, as he wrapped up. It was nightfall, and boxes were finally all gone. The dock was vacant, and empty of both workers and citizens. There was an eerie silence, save for the almost haunting sound of the docks creaking, and water sloshing against wood and shore.

Time to check in!

There was no answer. Perhaps the old man had gone home as well?

Ryugi would find the night mostly quiet. There were no ships and the water was gentle, and serene. The moon was gorgeous over the water as it slowly rose on the horizon filling the distant view with its pearly beauty. And thats when it came. It was so odd, almost impossible. Ryugi couldnt have only blinked for a moment, while making that turn at the end of his route, an there it was at the opposite end of the dock!

The ship was old, and large for its type. Its black and green wood stood out strongly in the bright moonlight. Torches had already been lit, and war songs already began to fill the air! The musky smell of rotted meat and torn skin which formed the sails of this old style ship soared across the dock. And aboard it...a hoard of them...Orcs! They were bringing items alright...the items were weapons! And they werent in boxes! There was easily 20 of them aboard that ship.

And there was just no way they were here for a delivery!